Seat



June 14, 1949. K, L EMBERON 2,473,365

SEAT

Filed Aug. 6, 1946 INV ENTOR. /ff/n/ EMBE/so/v Wl 17mm/EY BYn PatentedJune 14, 1949 Kfeithz, `E'mhersoni.,v Akron;-` Oliim` tm WingmanGorlioration,4 Altman, Ohio; ai ,colmillos tion o'Delawaret- ApplicationAugustA 6, 1941?,`I Sbriizl Nb; 68836332 9; Claims;1 (Cl. 155-4279 Thisinvention` relates to seats, especially.. to seats havingI aloadyreceivingsurfaceJ one` edge. portion of which is* supported bytpi'votally-y acting means.l

Appreciable' interest has been shown recently; in. seats wherein` thefront edgeA portion of the. seat, if' horizontally positioned; or-1theelowerf or upper edge 'of the seat if vertically positioned, aresupported by' nivotall'yfy mounted lever arms which carry a loadreceiving mem-ber, or members, Suitable spring means are'- normally aS-sociated wltli-tlreload, receiving member orvmeme bers to draw the freeends of the levers upwardly and aidv in supportingload onsuch member.The Ioad receiving' member or members-` may be ofi any desiredconstruction and carryy suitable cushioning material, if' desired. Inall events,

thefree ends of thelever' arms (on a horizontally positioned seatlaremoved downwardly and'- outwardly, of the. seat when the seat loadedAland consequently willi spring or be drawn upwardly when. tlrielloa'd'`is. removed. from the seat'. In the past various types of tie straps;have beenA secured to, the, free endsr of.` the leverV arms tou limititheir upward movement but they' have nottbeen: entirely satisfactory duetol the' labor' involved in; tying, the. straps tothe lower arms, and;priniarilyj, to the. fact that the tying down isnot definitely apermanent, or lasting construction.

Thegenerat obiectoi this invention' is to avoid and overcome; the,foregoing and other disadvantages@ of' and. objections to known types ofLscat constructions.Y of theA class described and toprovide, asimphled.seat construction embody ing:A supporting lever arms which havepermafnently limited movement.

Another object ofthe invention is to provide antinexpensiveasilyassembled seat that is providedwith aconstantno-load position.

Another object of the invention is to provi-de the; bracket pvotallysupporting the lever arm with, cantilever .stop means limitingV themovement ofthe lever larm around' the bracket.

, The foregoing, objects ofv the; invention.. and1 other objects and'advantagesfwhich will'l become apparent as. the speci'cati'on proceeds=areachieved bythe provision ofa mounting bracketv adapted, to bevsecured to a support', a flat spring member 'having' one. end secured totheKA bracket, a lever armfsecured to the -free endoi thegspring: memberto. extend outwardly from the bracket; means integral' with the bracketfior limiting moyennant offtneflever arm in one direction about: thebracket., anda: seatingsurface carried at one fendfby the Teverarm.

Reference-should bef had toz the. accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figi. isf'aitransverse-section offa: seat. embodyV ing theaprinciplesofthe invention;

Fig.: 3f is aorosei-sectional- View' taken. onL liney Referring now indetail tothe seat shown-inf the drawings,y a suit'a-k'ilen seat frame;which obvviously# mayNy take a variety; off forms, buty which# forsake:-of* simplicity hasv been shown asf vmoigeril base I and a wooden upright2 secured thereto: byf screws si. a mmmtnfig bracket, indicatedy as.aiwhol-e bythe numeraly is securedftothegbasef. In as byfbolts-l 5; Thebracket is preferablymade5 ofi a'` single piece of sheet' metall and'comprises-Q asubstantially triangular, open centered base 6. which-` hasnormally integrar arms- I-l and 8f ex-` tending upwardly andoutwardlytherefrom ati the apex of the triangle- The bracket 4 may be`-of any desired length and* width with relation to thelength and widthof@ the' base I Alprime feat-.- turerof" theinventi'onresides in formingthearm- 8' appreciably-longfenthan-the arm= 1 for a reasonvv to beVexplained hereinafter. In order to reenforce andl strengthen the arm 8,a pluralityl of' corrugation 9- which extendlengthwise off the armasshown in- Fig 2; are'formedinthe armand may' be continuedl dowrrthevside of theV base 6, as shown.

The, bracket 4, serves'as a pivotalsupport for a lever arm' I Il, andthe exact means'for pivotally connecting the leverl arm and' bracket maytake" a. variety of" forms. One convenient manner ofA achieving thepivotal' connection is` to provide a; spring' support for' the leverarm. This achieved by securing,4 as by spot welding, a at, metal springII of any suitable compositionbef tween the arms Tand' at'the apex ofthejloracketI 4, A shim I2 may be placed between theJ arm Iii and; the.spring I I before seeming; the Sprinairi pcsibn .Soethat' the Serine.is Aseated Slightly fichi.

. the under surface ofthe arm to enable the leven fes ' Il)v to hepositioned on ,the `Spring and iiushlagainstthek under" Surface 0f"v theamt 8L N012@ that the' Swingy II extends upwardly and' outwardly ofthebracket' 4f and substantially-v parallel to theA arm 8:. A reenforcingiiange lI3 maybe :formedlat'thef endj of thearm 1. The lever arm II] issecured in any suitable way tothe outerend of: the spring'- Il, but' sothatthe arm 'I-Il normally lies-f uslr against thev under surface of'tnearmy 8y whereby-- the upward movement of tljfiev arml is posxlg.tiveiyand perrnanen-tly limitedg or controlledi Strengthening channelsI4 may be formed in the arm I9, if desired. It should be observed thatthe lower end of the lever arm l0 is spaced slightly from the upper edgeof the shim l2 and that a reenforcing bar l5 on the lower surface of thespring H is similarly positioned to provide space for arcuate movementof the free end of the spring and of the lever arm.

The invention includes a load receiving or resting member that has itsfront edge supported by the lever arm I0, and its back end engaging coilsprings I6 carried by screw eyes l'l mounted on.

the upright 2. The load receiving and resting member may be canvas,glass fabric, wire netting, or the like. A satisfactory membercharacterized by lightness, inexpensiveness, and high strength isstraight wire I8 which is suitably secured to the free end of the leverarm l0, as by engaging with a hole I9 in a backwardly-turned flange 2Bthereon. Two or more of such spring supported wires may connect to eachlever arm l0. It will be understood that a plurality of such springs,wires and lever arms are positioned along the width of a seat to form bythemselves alone, or combined with other means, a load carrying orresting member that has one edge supported by a plurality of lever armssupported as is the lever arm I0. The coil springs I6 are ordinarilytensioned so that when no load is on the load receiving member the armsl0 are drawn .Y

up against the under surface of the arm B of the bracket 4 to therebyallow for preloading the seat structure.

, From the foregoing it is seen that the resiliently supported leverarms of the invention have a .f

definite and fixed no load position which will remain constantthroughout the life of the seat. Also, it will be understood that theinvention herein disclosed and claimed may be employed for seat bottomsor backs, and on automobile, theater, railroad or furniture seats.

The teachings of the invention can be used,

of course, with any type of a movable lever arm of the type used insupporting a load carrying member and, while a spring mounted arm isdisclosed, the arm may be pivotally, or movably mounted by any suitablemeans. Likewise, itis preferred to have the motion limiting membercontact the lever over a distance of several inches but still theinvention contemplates the use of a bar or rod as a motion limitingmember where the bar or rod is positioned by the support to contact thelever arm over a small area at a point remote from its hinge point.

. While a presently preferred embodiment of the invention has beenillustrated and described in detail, it will be understood that thescope of the invention is not limited to the forms and details disclosedherein but is commensurate with the breadth of the appended claims.

I claim:

l. In a seat, a base member, an open centered substantially triangularbracket member secured to said base member, said bracket member beingformed from an integral sheet the ends of which are bent to extendupwardly and outwardly beyond the apex of the bracket to form twosuperimposed positioning arms, a flat spring member secured to the lowerof said positioning arms and extending therefrom outwardly and upwardlyof said bracket member, and-a lever arm having a plurality ofreenforcing corrugations formed therein secured to the upper surface ofsaid spring member and projecting therefrom immediately under andnormally ush against the undersur'-v -jects beyond the apex of thetriangular portion "of the bracket, a flat spring member secured to saidbracket at the apex thereof and extending upwardly and outwardlytherefrom below and spaced from said projecting side, and a lever armsecured to the upper surface of said spring member and projectingtherefrom immediately under and normally flush against the undersurface.of said projecting side of said bracket member, said lever arm extendingupwardly and outwardly from said bracket member and being adapted to beconnected to a load receiving member of the seat whereby said lever armwill be forced downwardly by load applied to the seat but will beAretained against more than a predetermined degree of upward movement bysaid projecting side of said bracket member.

3. In a seat, a base member, a sheet metal bracket member secured tosaid base member, said bracket member having one side thereof whichprojects beyond the remainder of the bracket, a flat spring membersecured at one end to said bracket and extending from said bracket belowand spaced from said projecting side, and a lever arm secured to thefree end of said spring member adjacent one end thereof and projectingtherefrom under and substantially flush against the undersurface of saidprojecting side of said bracket member, said lever arm extendingupwardly and outwardly from said bracket member and being adapted to beconnected to a load receiving member of the seat whereby said lever armwill be forced downwardly and outwardly by load applied to the seat butwill be retained against more than a predetermined de-l gree of upwardmovement by said projecting side of said bracket member.

a. In a seat, a bracket member having a pluraiity of longitudinallyextending corrugationsl formed in one side thereof which projects beyondthe remainder of the bracket, a flat spring member secured to saidbracket and extending therefrom below and spaced from said projectingside, and a lever arm secured to said spring member and projectingtherefrom immediately under and substantially ilush against theundersurface of said projecting side of said bracket member.

5. In a seat construction, a support member,

a flat spring member secured to said supporty 6. In a seat construction,a support memben,

a shim member, a flat spring member secured at one end to said supportmember with saidl shim member being interposed therebetween;

said spring member having one end thereof extending from said supportmember, and a lever arm secured at one end to the upper surface of saidspring member adjacent the free end thereof, said support member havinga section eX- tending therefrom above and flush against the uppersurface of a portion of said lever arm ad jacent its connection to saidspring member.

7. In combination in a seat, a flexible resting portion, a base',bracket means mounted adjacent the front edge of the base, lever meanspivotally secured to the bracket means and extending upwardly andoutwardly therefrom, means integral-.with the bracket means for limitingthe upward movement of the lever means, said resting portion beingsecured adjacent its front edge to the upper end of the lever means, andresilient means securing the back edge of the resting portion to thebase and holding the lever means resiliently against the limiting meanson the bracket means.

8. In combination in a seat, a exible resting portion, a base, bracketmeans mounted adjacent the front edge of the base, lever means pivotallysecured to the bracket means and extending upwardly and outwardlytherefrom, means for limiting the upward movement of the lever means,said resting portion being secured adjacent its iront edge to the upperend of the lever means, and resilient means securing the back edge ofthe resting portion to the base and holding the lever means resilientlyagainst the limiting means.

9. In combination in a seat, a exl-ble wire resting portion, a supportframe bracket means mounted adjacent one side of the support frame,lever means pivotally secured to the bracket means, coll springssecuring one edge of the resting portion to the frame, the opposite edgeof the resting portion being secured to the lever means, and extensionmeans on the bracket means for limiting the pivotal movement of thelever means in the direction of pull of the coil springs.

KEITH L. EMBERSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 468,398 Sherman Feb. 9, 18921,586,740 Heck June 1, 1926 1,981,579 Bennet Nov. 20, 1934 2,329,572Young Sept. 14, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 157,891Switzerland Jan. 2, 1933

